9.20.2012

He stood there, shivering, cursing himself and weaving just a little
as a train rushed by behind him. Leather pants were not warm, he was
learning just now. In fact, they seemed to embrace the cold like a beer
coozie wrapped around an ice-cold PBR, and he was fucking freezing. This
was what they meant when guys said they were freezing their nuts off,
he guessed. They meant past-their-prime assholes in leather pants and
cowboy hats standing on a train platform in fucking Boise, Idaho.How did he get here? The better question was, assuming he had any
capacity for self-reflection, how did he get to be such a laughable
caricature of his former self? He could explain the bus from Reno to the
three-week stint at the Oasis in Las Vegas, and the bus that had
brought him to a gig in Boise that had brought him to his knees. But how
had he crossed over, from Lord of the Dance to his gut overhanging
tight leather pants, floundering around on the third-tier Vegas circuit?What he needed was to go anywhere, away from the stage and the smack
and the skanks and the booze flowing in the motel rooms of his flabby
existence. Forever Dancing In Our Hearts, still, and vomiting in your
bed if you get too close. He tugged his wan blonde hair from its
ponytail in the hopes that it might warm the back of his neck just a
little. Fingering a knot, pulling it through, his hand found the spot
under his formerly white, long-ago starched collar where the skin still
throbbed with the burn of a thousand needles. Man, you know you’re on a
bad trip when you find yourself with a new tattoo and no memory of
getting it.The train approached, slowly, his train to anywhere. Truly, this
train was headed to New York City by way of every mofo train station in
between, so he could go wherever he fancied. At least it felt that way,
having found a one-way train ticket to NYC tucked in amongst the tubes
and tiny bottles of the ziploc bag that doubled as his dopp kit. Like
the obtuse tattoo, he did not remember procuring the ticket, and he sure
as hell knew he couldn’t afford to buy it himself. But it was gonna get
him on this train to parts East, and so he was grateful for it. Very
grateful. Epic gratitude, even.As he boarded the train, he weaved again and had to grasp a pole to
steady himself. He closed his eyes and felt the train start to move.
Opening his eyes again, he was instantly struck with a feeling of
deja-vu, a weird feeling in his stomach that was not pleasant at all.
What on earth had happened? It was like the scene had shifted and he was
somewhere else, on a different train, in different surroundings, with
people who looked dated, somehow. This had been a crazy couple of days,
for sure. Now what was going to happen?“Young man, there’s a seat here. Would you like to sit down?” He
looked around, and then realized that the elderly gentleman with the
briefcase was addressing him.“Huh, me?” His voice came out high and squeaky.“Yes, young man. You should sit. It’s a good many hours to Wichita.”
Wichita? He shuffled toward the seat just past the man, aware that his
feet fell lightly on the sticky floor. Looking down, he noted black
shoes with flames on them, white knee socks, and knobby knees above
that.He sat, completely discombobulated. What the hell had he taken that
was lasting this long? The tattoo, the train ticket, now hallucinations
on the train. It was going to be a long, strange trip, as they say.“Why are you headed to Wichita, young man?” The older man peered at
him, making him feel uncomfortable, though he couldn’t put a finger on
exactly why. He shrugged back at the man and looked down, noticing for
the first time the heavy three-ring binder he carried, black naugahyde
with a ballet-shoes logo on the front.“Looks like I’m going to the Mid-West Dance Champions Series Two
Conference.” He opened the binder and something clicked in his brain.

Hah! This is a story I wrote for Cameron's wonderful Story Circle series a while back. I thought maybe it was time to bring this story home, mostly because I've been feeling blocked about writing fiction/stories lately. Maybe if this story sits here mocking me, I'll be inspired to write more! I could even write more of this here little story... hmmmm.Meanwhile, you should all go check out the Story Circle--lots of good and interesting writing there!

6 comments:

So well written, Marian. Wait till this guy gets a little older. I feel like this pretty much all the time - cold sober! hee hee. You write fiction very well. More, please! I'd love a piece that is a slice of life at your house because it is so loving there!

thank you, Sherry! i have been trying to talk myself into hunkering down and writing some stories for months now, but i'm all distracted. i'm hopeful that i can turn that around. i also have this, ahem, NOVEL draft that i wrote last year, which has had no attention in a number of months. gotta get it together! maybe with the cold and the dark coming... xoxo

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